'Bad Boys 3' cast news: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence confirmed to reprise their roles

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are confirmed to be reprising their roles in "Bad Boys For Life," the upcoming third installment in the "Bad Boys" film franchise.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that the film's release date is being moved to January 2018 from the original June 2017. It was also confirmed that the third film in the popular buddy cop/action-comedy franchise is titled "Bad Boys For Life." Now, Joe Carnahan, who is taking over from Michael Bay, the director behind the first two "Bad Boys" films, has confirmed that Smith and Lawrence are returning for the third installment.

In an interview with io9, Carnahan said that the third "Bad Boys" film was rescheduled because of Smith's jam-packed filming schedule.

"We couldn't all get in a room, go through this thing and really ring it out," the director said. "I'm a big believer in 'Do the work at the script level until you've got something you know works,'" he added.

In the interview, Carnahan also clarified that "Bad Boys For Life" is not a legacy sequel, saying, "There's only one Will Smith and one Martin Lawrence."

"You can't replace those guys and I wouldn't want to be involved if it wasn't Will and Martin," he stressed, and added, "They are that franchise."

Carnahan also addressed fans' concerns that a "Bad Boys" comeback after 15 years of being away could be disastrous. According to the director, he believes that they have something that will equal or even exceed what came before and that "Bad Boys For Life" has the "strongest" script of any of his movies. Carnahan also said that he thinks the third film will be strongest in the "Bad Boys" trilogy.

But while this is the first time Carnahan has spoken out about Smith's and Lawrence's participation in "Bad Boys For Life," Smith had previously confirmed that he and his "Bad Boys" co-lead intend to reunite for the third film.

In a BBC Radio 1 interview, Smith recounted how he recently got together with Lawrence after years of not seeing each other.

"We hugged and in that moment we both knew we were making another 'Bad Boys,'" the actor said, adding, "So we're definitely doing another one."

"Bad Boys For Life" is set to premiere on Jan. 12, 2018.